


Strange Love.

by Tea_and_Snowflakes



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Force Bond, Friendship/Love, Post TFA, Slow Burn, Still not incest unless it's proven in a court of law.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-15 08:32:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5778877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_and_Snowflakes/pseuds/Tea_and_Snowflakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey's peace and quiet is quite literally ruined when Kylo Ren comes crashing back in to her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Authors change: As I can no longer update from my phone I will be changing ForceTalk to Italics. Much simpler.

Rey returned to D’Qar with Luke Skywalker as he finally promised his sister General Organa a visit after being absent for so many years.

Even though they were on D’Qar for a social visit, Rey would still be continuing her training.

She had been glad to see her friend Finn finally recovered from his injuries. He told her that he was training to be a pilot like his good friend Poe.

Rey spent most of her day either meditating or training with Luke. She spent her evenings with Poe and Finn. General Organa had invited her to her private quarters for an evening meal with Luke, they spent the evening sharing stories with Rey.

\--

Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy Kylo Ren was aboard the Finalizer. He had healed, seen the Supreme Leader, been chastised by the Supreme Leader and sent on several small missions in order to regain some trust and respect with the Order and Snoke.

In the months since the destruction of Star Killer base Kylo had felt Rey in the back of his mind. The small amount of time they had spent inside each others heads had created the smallest thread of a force bond. If he meditated and concentrated hard enough he could sense that her bond with the light side had grown stronger. He only gently nudged at the edges of the bond to keep her from becoming totally aware of his presence. Though he did often wonder if she felt the bond between them at all.

It frustrated him slightly to have her always at the back of his mind. To have her wild eyes distract him from the task in front of him. He incurred General Hux's wrath a few times because he'd been thinking about the girl from Jakku.

Now that he was Hux's subordinate, Hux felt as if he could push Kylo around and insult him, Kylo just gritted his teeth and didn't act upon his rage. He knew that if he killed or harmed Hux in any way Snoke would knock him down further than he already was.

Some poor unfortunate piece of furniture or a droid in his private quarters would usually feel Kylo's anger at the end of a very bad day.

 


	2. Crash Landing.

It was a very rare day for Rey, for the first time in months Luke had given her a day off. He said she deserved a day off after being cooped up with him for nearly six months on Ahch-To. The island was much smaller than Rey had expected after she'd explored it a couple of times, she was used to endless expanses of hot sand and the bones of the Empire looming across the skyline.

She decided to go for a walk in to the lush forest outside the base. She asked Finn and Poe to come with her, partly for the company and to spend the day with her friends and also partly because she didn't really know her way around outside the base.

Rey was still mesmerised by all the green. The forest was mossy and green, she made her way through the knee-high ferns of Poe and Finn. She was fascinated by everything around her, she would brush her hands over the ferns and smile at how soft they were, she discovered several different types of fungi; which she was warned not to touch by Poe as they might have been poisonous. She found she loved the sound of birds singing and the sound of the wind rushing through the trees above her.

They walked for some time through the forest, they found a small stream and followed it for some time, when they found a small waterfall they stopped and decided to have their lunch next to the soothing sound of the rushing water.

_"Rey."_

The girl froze when she heard her name echo in her head. It took her a second to realise that is was the voice of Kylo Ren, a voice she hadn't heard in half a year. Her blood ran cold as she remembered their fight on Star Killer base and when he drove his brutal looking light sabre through his father.

_"Rey."_

It came again, it sounded more like a pained whisper than the tone he used when he was last in her presence.

Before she could even think of an answer, all three of them stared up at the tree canopy as a small ship crashed through them.

The G-1A Starfighter finally skidded a halt at the bottom of a cliff where the stream meandered down the rough rock a few hundred feet upstream.

“Do you think it's one of ours?” Finn shouted as they all ran towards the wreckage.

“It doesn't look like anything we use.” Poe shouted back. The back of the vessel was a crushed mess against the cliff face, what was left of the engines was a smoking heap. As they drew nearer they could see the slumped form of a pilot through the smashed window.

“Who do you think is in there?” Finn asked.

“I think it might be Kylo Ren.” Rey admitted quietly, her friends stood before her in shock  as the cockpit started to fill with smoke.

“How?”

“I think he tried communicating with me through the force before the ship crashed. I think he could sense me and was calling out to me.” She said as she walked over to the ship and climbed up to the cockpit window, with assistance from the Force Rey pulled Kylo free and passed his unconscious body to a wary looking Poe. They pilot dragged Kylo's hefty body away from the wreckage before moving away entirely. Rey knelt by him and gently removed the helmet he was wearing. Underneath his helmet his face was freshly bruised and bloodied. Rey felt for a pulse and if he was breathing before she felt out with the Force and felt nothing but the quietness of unconsciousness.  
She pulled back from his mind and focused her mind to reach out to her master.

_"Luke, we need help. A starfighter crashed and Kylo Ren was inside. He's unconscious and injured."_

“Poe. Can you go back to base and fetch a medical transport please.” She asked.

“Why are we even helping in Rey, he's a monster.” Finn said angrily.

“Because it's the right thing to do Finn. Letting him die only puts us on his level of morality.” She said firmly.

“Fine.” Finn grumbled. Poe left and Finn stomped off back down stream to collect their abandoned lunches and the backpack he'd bought them in.

As Kylo lay still, Rey checked his body for any obvious injuries. She couldn't detect any broken bones but as she was examining his torso she felt a wet patch, when she pulled her hand away it was covered in blood.

“Damn.” She muttered to herself. She pressed both hands in to his side and hoped that he wouldn't bleed out before Poe returned. Luke hadn't taught her how to heal with the Force yet but she tried anyway, she focused her mind with the Force and willed the wound to stop bleeding and for the skin to close.

After a few moments, she tentatively took her hands away and cursed when blood continued to seep through her fingers. She quickly tore off a strip of her robe and pressed it in to the wound before covering it with her hands again.

She spent the remaining time before the transport arrived trying to will Kylo back to consciousness, either by talking to him or trying to get him to respond through the Force.

Kylo was taken back to the transport on a stretcher. Rey decided to ride in the back with him just in case he didn't know where he was.

Luke and Leia were waiting for them in the med bay. Their faces were pale and worried as they watched the medical droids and medical staff take over and begin healing Kylo. His only injuries were a stab wound to his side and a few cuts and bruises on his face.  
“ Thank you, Rey.” The general said, “I know it probably wasn’t easy for you to do this for him.”

“I didn’t think it would be right to just let him die. He must have called out to me for a reason before he crashed.”

“ We'll find out once he wakes up.” Luke said as he watched his nephew steadily breathe in and out.

“ Please excuse me General, I would like to go and clean myself up.” Rey did, she was still covered in Kylo’s blood.

“ Of course.”

Finn walked Rey back to her quarters in silence. Rey had been given a room near Finn and Poe’s quarters. Her room was larger than she was used to, she had a spacious bed, a desk and a plush looking reading chair in the corner. She left Finn standing in the middle of her room while she went in to the adjoining bathroom to clean off her hands and face of blood and change out of her dirtied and bloodied robes and in to her grey leggings and high-necked grey tunic.

When she exited the bathroom she had to hold on a sigh when she saw Finn’s worried expression.

“ You're not going to go back there and see him after you?”

“ No, I thought I would stay in here and meditate. Could you please pass that on to Luke and General Organa.” Finn hesitated for a second before conceding, leaving her in peace.

The last few hours had knocked her off balance. She'd been able to push away the feeling of Kylo to the deepest part of her mind with Luke’s help but the last few hours had pulled the feeling of their connection to the forefront of her mind.

Hours later when she managed to centre herself she rose feeling hungry but she also felt better about herself.

In the mess hall, she found Poe and Finn at their usual table. She couldn’t help but notice that everyone seemed to be talking about Kylo Ren. Rey pushed aside the uneasy feeling she was being and joined her friends.  As they ate they talked about everything but what had happened earlier.

She only returned to the med bay to talk to Luke. He told her that the had been no changes and that he would stay with Kylo for the night to look out for any changes and to keep away anyone that might wait to harm him further.

She left to practice her forms before retiring to her room to read before letting sleep claim her. She slept peacefully and dreamt only of the forest.


	3. Waking up.

Kylo Ren woke up with a start. He was confused and in pain.  
“ Where am I?” He tried to sit up but his head began to spin so he flopped back down onto the bed.

“ You're with the Resistance.” Luke said from his chair on the other side of the room, “ What do you remember?”

“I remember making the decision to leave the First Order. General Hux and Phasma gave me a parting gift. Then it gets a little blurry after that.”

“ Why did you come here?”

“I don’t know.” He said quietly, he didn’t want to see his uncle's face, he didn’t want to see the disappointment or betrayal. He especially  didn’t want to see the concern on his uncle's face, he didn’t deserve it. He couldn’t remember anything past stealing the Starfighter, he couldn’t remember making the decision to find the Resistance. Why was Luke there? Was his mother there too? Was the scavenger girl Rey?  
He didn’t know how long he lay, staring up at the white ceiling before he felt his mother's presence enter the medical bay.

“ Why are you here Kylo Ren?” The General said, Kylo almost smirked at how blunt and stoic she was being. He thought about it for a while, he wondered why he would even come anywhere near this system, let alone the Resistance base. Perhaps he thought he could get back at the First Order and Snoke, he could give the Resistance information on the Order. It would definitely make Snoke regret replacing him as Master of the Knights of Ren and making him take Hux’s orders.

“ You can use me for information on the First Order.”

“ You’re willing to betray the First Order.”

“ Why did the prospect of me betraying someone surprise you General?” He said smugly.

“ I'm not surprised, merely curious.”

“ If you really must know, I decided to leave because I was sick of being treated like shit after I worked so hard to get where I was in the Order. I'm so much more powerful than the Order and Snoke made me take that snivelling shits orders.” He scowled. 

“You’ll be confined to quarters, you will have your food delivered by a droid and you will provide us with information on the First Order. “

“ Fine.” He said as he closed his eyes again as he began to get a headache.  
\--

 

Rey spent her morning before breakfast meditating. She went to the training hall and found it empty, usually Luke would be there before her and they would go through forms, spar and practice with training sabres. She guessed that he was still in the medical bay.

She cycled through her forms a couple of times before Poe came in to the hall. He asked her why she was all alone and she told him. He offered to spar with her and she accepted with a smile.

By the time they stopped for lunch they were both tired and starving. They bumped in to Finn and BB-8 who were looking for Poe, they then continued on to the mess. Poe and Finn excused themselves earlier as Poe was teaching Finn a new flight simulator.

Rey made her way over to Luke's private quarters after she was finished with her meal to fetch a holo to read.

As she made her way back through the base to towards her room she stopped in her tracks as she could sense Kylo Ren's presence coming toward her. When she looked up from her holo she saw Luke, General Organa and four armed resistance officers escorting Kylo Ren. Rey shuffled to the side to let them past, she gave a polite smile to Luke and General Organa.  
 _" Thank you."_ Kylo said through their bond as he made brief eye contact with her in passing. When the group was out of sight Rey let out a small sigh and continued on to her room to finish reading.

It wasn’t until hours later that Rey decided to reach through their bond and talk back.

_"Why did you thank me, Ren?"_

_"Because I was told that you pulled me from the ship."_

_"Why did you come here?"_

_"I can become a powerful asset. I have a lot of information the General needs."_

_"You’ve betrayed the First Order."_

_"Yes."_

_"Won’t they come after you?"_ Kylo smirked to himself, either his mother hadn't talked to Rey yet or she didn’t believe him and was asking him directly for some reason.

_"As far as they know Kylo Ren crashed on some good forsaken backwater planet after being beaten and stabbed while the process of defecting. All they’ll find is a burnt shell of a ship with a burnt corpse in it."_

_"Won't Snoke just search for you through the Force?"_

_"Not if I don’t want him to find me. He’s not as powerful as he thinks he is."_

_"I'm almost impressed."_

_"I could teach you."_ Rey imagined that he was probably smirking and rolled her eyes.

_"No thank you."_

_"I'd love to stay up and talk but I really need my sleep."_ Rey grumbled to herself as she pulled away from the bond and shut off her mind to Kylo.

“Ass.” She muttered to herself as she changed to go to sleep.

Kylo lay in bed wondering why Rey had sparked up a conversation across their bond. Concentrating on her had almost made him forget about his pounding headache. Getting the butt end of Phasma’s blaster to the face really, really hurt.  
The next day Rey and Luke resumed normal training. Whereas Kylo worked on giving the Resistance information that wouldn’t give away his whereabouts but was still useful for them to use as he needed Snoke and the others to believe he was gone. He had asked the General for news of his death to see if his ruse was a success.

When he wasn’t providing intel, he would read, exercise, meditate and easy when he remembered to. He worked on strengthening the walls he'd built to keep Snoke out, he would have to be careful with using the Force too much, it would attract unwanted attention.

That night his mind was silent. There was no voice at the back of his mind to tell him to escape and kill everyone, he didn’t even have Rey poking around their bond. Feeling curious he gently reached through their bond, he half smiled to himself when he came up against her mental walls. He spent a couple of minutes feeling around her defences for any weak spots when he was suddenly pushed from her mind.

 _"Sod off. I'm trying to meditate.’"_ He heard firmly in his mind. He obliged and left her alone.

 

 


	4. Howl at the Moon.

Two weeks had passed before Rey heard the name Kylo Ren directly mentioned to her. Luke was stood in here room one morning asking her about Kylo.

“ Has he been bothering you?”

“ Not really. We conversed a couple of times through the Force when he woke up but since then he's done nothing but test my defences until I push him out or tell him to sod off. Both work.” She shrugged.

“ Good, I’ve sensed a change within him, it might be a good sign that he's not taunting you. The bond between you might become important.”

“ In what way?” She asked hesitantly.

“ If he truly wishes to turn his back on Snoke and the dark side, he may need our guidance. He may not want my help so readily but he may try and reach out to you. It might not be for help necessarily but for something small like a conversation.”

“ So if he pops in to my head I just let him talk?”

“ Only let him talk and in turn talk back if you want it to happen.”

“ Has he really turned his back on the Order?”

“I believe so. The information he’s been giving us has checked out so far. He’s only been giving us small pieces as he knows what will and won’t get him found out. He's also pleased to hear that both the First Order and Snoke believe him to be dead.”

“ Wow. He told me that he could hide from Snoke but I didn’t quite believe him.”

“I have advised him to keep his Force usage to a minimum. Talking to you shouldn’t create too much of a disturbance at such a close distance.”

Luke collected the ever growing stack of holos on Rey's desk and left her with a different stack to work her way through.

“ Please bring them back quicker, I seem to be lending out my holos to both you and Kylo.”

“I will.” She said as he left and she settled on her bed with the current holo she was reading.

Another week passed and the only thing Rey and Kylo talked about were the holos of Luke’s they were reading. They wouldn’t say much or say anything very often, it was usually one asking the if they'd read what the other was currently reading. They would answer yes or no to each other and remain silent to each other until they moved on to the next holo.

Rey found that Kylo read at a quicker pace than her, they both managed to get through history holos on past battles the quickest. However, they both took longer to read through Jedi scripture, sometimes Rey could feel Kylo’s boredom strongly through their bond if he was reading something that didn’t appeal to him and he often felt her excitement whenever she was reading something on space battles or a mechanics manual on an ancient type of star ship.

One night Rey woke up panting with her heart beating its way out of her chest. Nightmares weren’t a new experience, she’d had plenty before. This one was different however, it wasn’t of her family leaving her on Jakku or a more recent one of her reliving Han Solo’s death. It was something dark and sinister that whispered at the back of her head, it pulled in the threads of her fear and her anger with bony fingers.

She meditated for two hours until she felt centred and serene again. She then fell asleep again and didn’t experience any darkness after that.

Early next morning she focused her mind and opened her bond with Kylo Ren.

 _"Were you inside my head last night?"_ She asked abruptly.

 _"No."_ His answer came after some time, it felt slow and groggy as if he’d just been asleep. _"Why?"_

_"I had a nightmare last night and I just wondered if you were being an ass."_

_"I can promise that I haven’t been inside your head."_

_"Good, thank you.....I think."_

_"You should probably go and meditate with Luke, I can feel your fear from here."_

Kylo was the first one to pull back from their bond and shut himself out from her mind. He looked at the time on his chrono and groaned, it was barely even dawn. He pulled himself to from his bed and settled on the floor to meditate, he stayed there until the droid that delivered his food came rolling in. After eating, he went through his notes and the notes the Resistance had given him on the successful missions that had happened because of his intel. He began planning what to give them next and giving them suggestions on where to go next.

Luke knew that something was troubling Rey the moment she stepped in to the training room earlier than usual.

“ What troubles you?”

“I had trouble sleeping last night, because of a nightmare.”

“ What happened in your nightmare?”

“ Nothing happened really. It was more of a feeling. It felt like the first time Kylo tried to get inside my mind except it hurt a lot more. It felt like something was trying to pull at my deepest, darkest fears and make me angry because of them.”

“ Do you think it was Kylo?” He asked as he gestured for her to follow him to the plush stacked stools they used for meditation.

“ No.” She said thoughtfully, “I did ask him this morning and he said no and now that I've had some time to think about it I'm sure that or wasn’t him.” She said as she folded her legs underneath herself and assumed a meditative posture.

“I think we’ll work on your mental strength. It might have just been a nightmare but I’m the case where it might have been an outside force trying to invade your mind we will need to make sure your mental barriers are at their strongest, even when to you’re sleeping.” Once Rey was centred and focused Luke pushed out through the Force and tried to enter Rey's mind. He was pleased when he found sturdy defences, he continued much as Kylo had some and searched for and weaknesses that might allow him to access her thoughts.

Once Rey felt Luke's presence she focused on keeping him out. Luke focused harder to truly test her defences.

“ Now push me from your mind.” He said out loud.  
 _"You will leave my mind."_  She thought to herself as she pushed Luke away as she had some with Kylo on a few occasions, suddenly she felt Luke’s presence leave. She then felt a feeling of approval come from her bond with Luke.

“Well done.”

When they were finished meditating Luke demonstrated a few new hand to hand combat techniques. When Rey felt she had gotten the hang of them she went over to where Poe and Finn are training and asked if they'd like to spar with her. Luke encouraged her to spar with other people as they had different ways of fighting, and he wasn’t as agile as he used to be. Rey enjoyed sparring with Poe more than Finn as Poe wouldn’t go easy on her, she often left the sparring ring with Poe with a few extra aches and bruises.

Rey was exhausted by the time she made her way back to her room that evening. She had trained for longer than she normally would. She wanted nothing more than to collapse in bed with a holo. As she looked through her stack she saw that she had read through all of them. Picking up the stack she heard back across the base to Luke’s.  She stopped when she came across Kylo’s room, which was next to Luke’s. Knowing that she had holos that he hadn’t read she clutched the stack to her chest and knocked on his door.

“ Who is it?” He called.

“ Rey.” She said back, or of the corner of her eye she saw Luke come out of his room and stood by his door, Rey could feel his curiosity as he stood in silence.  She felt a little nervous as he opened the door, this would technically be the first time they spoke face to face since Star Killer Base. “I thought you might want to look through these before I give them back to Luke.”

Kylo leant out of the door slightly to see his uncle watching them, “ Ok.” Rey held out the stack for him to look through using the force to hold them in the air, he then gently pulled out the ones he wanted to read, leaving her with the rest. “ Thank you.” He said the smallest hint of a smile before he went back inside and closed the door. Rey ignored the smile on Luke’s face as she went in to his room to put the holos back and find new ones.

“ The next time you come back here, I'd like you to do what you just did with Kylo.”

“ Ok.”

It was two nights last when the outsider returned with brute force, bursting through Rey's defences like they were made of paper. White hot pain took over her body as they curled their way around her mind and dug their claws in. Rey tried to push them from her mind but nothing worked. Her eyes shot open but she couldn’t speak or move, she lay there helplessly as the outsider pulled apart her mind and dug through her thoughts.

Kylo woke up feeling a pain that he knew wasn’t his. His blood ran cold as he felt Rey's pain bombarding him through their bond. He banged on the wall that joined in to Luke’s room hoping to wake him. Moments later his room door flew open.

“ Something is wrong with Rey.” Kylo said quickly. “I think I can help.”  Luke watched as Kylo winced at the pain coming through their link, he could feel Rey's pain too but he was suppressing it.

“ Your bond is stronger than I thought.” He commented. “ I will let you help but you will report to your mother as soon as Rey is ok again.”

“ Ok.” He ground out as another wave got him. They both ran through the halls, shouting for people to move as they made out to her room.

From the outside everything was quiet. Luke opened the door and Kylo followed him in. As the lights came on they both saw Rey laying on the bed frozen on fear. Kylo took a hesitant still towards her.  
 _" Kylo. Trap."_  She panted through their bond. Suddenly Kylo was forced to his knees as the pain took over.

 _"I found you Kylo."_ The malicious voice hissed. Snoke was the object of Rey's nightmares, he had used her mind to get to Kylo. Kylo focused all his power using his rage against Snoke to push Snoke out, it took some time but he succeeded, as he caught his breath Luke worked on freeing Rey. Through their bond Luke urged Rey to push Snoke away and free herself.

Kylo pulled himself up and walked the rest of the way to Rey’s bed.

“ Push him out like you did the first time we met. If you can push me away you can repel him easily.” He said encouragingly. Rey focused on his words and gathered all of her power and shoved Snoke from her mind. As soon as she was free she sprang up from the bed and ran passed Luke and Kylo in to the bathroom to throw up.

When she eventually emerged Kylo was waiting by the door while Luke spoke to the General.

“ How do you feel?” He asked.

“ Sick.” She said matter of factly. She was surprised to see Kylo looking so concerned.

“ I’m sorry.” He said his mother and uncle paused their conversation when they heard Kylo apologise, they smiled at each other before going back to their discussion. Rey moved passed Kylo to sit on the end of her bed as she wiped away the tears that had formed and had begun to fall. Feeling a little helpless Kylo instinctively looked to his mother, she jerked her head in Rey’s direction as if to say ‘ comfort her’. Kylo perched on the edge of the bed next to Rey, leaving some space between them.

“ Luke and I will stay here and make sure Snoke can’t do that again.” He said softly.

“ He'll just come after you now.” She sniffed. Without thinking, Kylo moved closer and leant close so that their arms were touching. With a shaky sigh, Rey leant closer.

“ You don’t need to worry about me. He won’t come here himself, the Order might come but we can fight them.” Rey found his deep timbre soothing, especially when it wasn’t being used to taunt her.

“Will you really stay here?” She asked she didn’t want to think about the Order at that moment. Kylo looked once again to his mother, who nodded in agreement, he and Luke would stay there and make sure she was safe.

“ Yes. We will.” Luke interjected, “ I’ll fetch Kylo and I something to sleep on.”

“Will you two be ok while I talk to Threepio, he will need to keep a sharp eye on all First Order chatter. If they're coming we'll know.”

“ Yes.” They said in unison. When the door slid closed Rey surprised Kylo by turning and resting her head against him as she began crying again. Kylo didn’t know what to say so he slowly pulled his arm up and wrapped it around her shoulder, he was fully prepared to move away from her at any sign of protest.

Before Luke entered the room Kylo pulled away from Rey and let her crawl back in to bed. Luke had bought in two small fold up mattresses. Luke set his up closer to the door, whereas Kylo put his nearer Rey's bed.

When all three were settled and the room was once again steeped in darkness Kylo lay awake for some time, he could sense that his uncle was asleep but Rey was still awake. He flinched slightly when he felt delicate fingers brush against his shoulder. Rey had shuffled to the edge of the bed and had dangled her hand over the edge. Kylo reached out and touched the tips of his fingers  with hers. He opened up his side of their bond and felt her succumbing to exhaustion.

" Thank you." She said sleepily in to his mind. He stayed silent and lay there as her fingers wandered along his hand, back to his shoulder and finally toying with the ends of his unruly hair before going slack as Kylo finally felt her drift off. Finally feeling exhausted himself Kylo let his mind relax while still holding his strong defences and letting himself fall asleep too.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know that there were a few time jumps but it should run smoother now the fluff begins :)


	5. Upside Down

Rey slept a deep sleep, where she didn't dream or even move. When she woke she was lying face down at the edge of the bed with her arm dangling over the edge. She peered over the edge to see Kylo on his side facing her, his face was hidden by a curtain of black hair. Her limbs felt stiff and achy. As she pushed herself up her back and her neck gave an almighty crack as she stretched. She then shuffled down to the end of the bed to tip toe in to the bathroom.

 

The hot water of the fresher was soothing, the pounding water beat away all of her aches and pains.

 

Rey was glad she had gotten in to the habit of keeping a spare change of clothes in one of the wall compartments in the bathroom because during her stay on D'Qar Finn had walked in to her room without knocking several times and seemed to catch her just as she had finished in the fresher.

 

As she was getting dressed she heard Kylo and Luke stir. Rey got dressed in loose long grey trousers and a loose sleeveless white shirt. She had noticed that both D'Qar and Ahch- To were drastically different to Jakku in temperature so her thin knee-length leggings weren't warm enough for the cooler climates. She only emerged as she was tying up her last bun.

“Good morning Rey.” Luke said as he folded up the padded mat he had used as a bed.

“Morning.”

“Did you sleep well?” Her mentor asked.

“Yes thank you, I didn't even dream.”

 

It wasn't long before General Organa appeared with a droid carrying breakfasts.

“How are you feeling this morning, Rey?” She asked.

“I feel a little better thank you. I think having Luke and Kylo here helped.”

“That's good.” She smiled, “Threepio spent all night going through the chatter from the First Order. I'd like you to take a look through it and see what's usable and what's not.” She said to Kylo.

“Yes, General.” He replied as he took his food from the droid and resumed his position on the floor by Rey's bed.

 

Once he was finished, Kylo stood and handed his empty bowl back to the droid.

“General. May I make a suggestion concerning Rey's training.” He said quickly. He had been thinking about it as he ate and felt as if he should share his idea with Rey present to allow her, her own opinion instead of getting Luke or his mother to decide for her.

“Speak.” The General said with cold indifference. She still wasn't very trusting of her son's sudden want to help them.

“If the Order plans on attacking they will send Knights after me and Rey. With your permission and Luke's supervision, I would like to show Rey their different fighting styles. I-I know that Rey's a competent fighter but she's still got a lot to learn still.” Everyone went silent as they thought about Kylo's proposal.

“His suggestion does make sense. There is only so much that I can teach Rey, if she learned these new techniques she will become stronger and she will be prepared if she has to fight one of the Knights of Ren.”

“How do we know that he won't try and teach her other things and try and seduce her to the dark side.” Leia said suspiciously.

“I won't.” Kylo said defensively. “ I promise. If you or Luke sense anything amiss then you can lock me in your deepest, darkest hole and never let me out.”

“Perhaps we should hear Rey's thoughts.” Luke offered, all three looked to Rey, who was sat peacefully watching the others talk about her as if she wasn't in the room.

“If Kylo knows how to give me an advantage over the Order without leading me astray then I'll train with him, under Luke's supervision.”

“You're agreeing with me?” Kylo said, feeling somewhat shocked. He hadn't thought she'd so readily accept his help.

“Yes.”

“Then I will allow it. Kylo if you do anything to put darkness within Rey I will do as you suggest and put you away for a very, very long time.” The General warned.

“Yes General, of course.”

“You will train on the other side of the base in one of the unused hangers. You will be far away from the other occupants of the base and you will be less likely to attract any unwanted attention.”

 

General Organa had several spare sections of padded flooring that were in storage in the training area taken over to the empty hanger. Once Luke, Rey and Kylo were settled in their new training space Luke instructed them to sit and meditate.

“You both went through a painful experience last night. You will both need to be at peace with it before you start any combat training. We can't have fear or rage fuelling our ability to fight.” Luke instructed.

 

Kylo wasn't used to not using the rage inside of him to fight with. He had been tempted several times in the past to extinguish the flame of rage and fight how his uncle had taught him as a child but every time he thought about it, he would see the crumpled mask of his grandfather clearly in his mind and Snoke readily whispering poisonous words of how he would fail his grandfather if he gave in to the light.

 

Now without the chains of Snoke to hold him down Kylo had begun the daunting trek back to the light. As he set out to centre himself he felt his uncle's voice in the back of his mind.

'Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.' When Luke felt Kylo's confusion he explained out loud. “This is a code that I believe is more in tune with you. You have always had a little piece of darkness inside of you. You may not completely become light. I believe finding balance in both will bring you peace.” He said serenely without opening his eyes. Rey sat peacefully as Luke and Kylo resumed meditation. She blocked off all sound from the outside world. She built up her mental fortifications and shut down her links with Kylo and Luke. She focused on the light inside of herself, she felt the fear from the night before and let go of it as if it were leaves in the wind. As she continued to let pieces of her fear go, Rey started to feel better about herself.

 

When Rey emerged she felt peaceful. When she opened her eyes she saw that Luke was sitting quietly and watching his nephew, when he looked over at her he smiled as he felt how peaceful she felt. She looked over to Kylo and saw that he was still deeply meditating, she was mindful of their connection and kept firmly closed. His face was blank but peaceful. She turned back to Luke.

 _"I’ll begin my forms."_ She said through their bond.

“ We will join you soon.” He said out loud but quietly.

 

She moved to the middle of the mats and took her body through the forms. As she began the third form she heard Kylo and Luke stand.

“ Do you mind if we joined you?” Luke asked as she stopped.

“ No, would you like me to start again.”

“ Yes please Rey.”

 

After their forms were completed, Kylo discussed what he wanted to do in terms of hand to hand combat and sabre training.

“I think for today I will show you how I really fight.”

“ But I've fought you, why do I need to do it again.” She asked.

“I was injured and blinded by rage and grief. I wasn’t fighting at my best. If you can best me when I’m healthy then the other knights will be easy.” Kylo began to circle her, waiting for her to begin and try and hit him. As she began to strike and lunge at him Kylo effortlessly moved out of the way out batted away her limbs away if they came close to hitting him. Once he got a sense of how she attacked her attacked back to see if she could defend as well as she attacked. He thought she was doing well, she was agile and moved out of the way. She was doing great when she was parrying away his blows until she didn’t catch his kick to her ribs. The hit sent her flying as he had used the Force to put a little power behind it. She landed with a soft thump.

“ Are you okay?” Luke asked as she lay on the ground, trying to regain her breath.

“ Fine, just winded.” She said, “ It was almost as bad as when you threw me against a tree.” She said to Kylo.

“ It won’t be as bad when you are it coming.” He said, smirking. Rey stood and examined her side. She sensed that nothing was broken or cracked so she pushed the pain away and resumed her previous stance. They sparred for another hour, Kylo managed to get Rey on her back a couple of times and she managed to get him pinned and then immediately rolled away as she saw his next move coming as he wanted to throw her off him and pin her back.

 

They stopped for a short break before moving on to sabre practice. As they sat on the mats Kylo gave her a few pointers on how to get someone of his size to the floor easier. He was only six inches taller than her but he still had an advantage with being physically stronger than her. He advised her to use the Force to aid her when both throwing someone off balance and keeping them pinned.

“ It must be easier to fight without the robes.” She commented. He was only dressed in loose black trousers and a grey tunic.

“ The outer robe was heavy, they weren’t the most practical thing to wear.” He said lightly.

“ Jedi robes can be just as cumbersome.” Luke said as he picked up the two training sabres and handed them to Kylo and Rey.

 

 

Kylo was a brutal fighter with a sabre, his blows were heavy and unrelenting, even though his movements were fluid and almost graceful.

 

Rey had greatly improved since she last fought Kylo. She moved a little quicker, her reflexes were faster.

 

When they were eventually finished they both ached from where their muscles ached or where they had landed blows on each other. Kylo ran his hand through his sweaty hair which has stuck to his head.

 

Rey felt her stomach grumble as they had skipped lunch. Even though Kylo was free to train and teach Rey in the hanger, he still had to return to his room.

 

They walked in silence back to Kylo’s room, Luke excused himself, he told Kylo that he was going to get Kylo’s lunch from the mess instead of waiting for a droid.

“ Would you like to come in, just until Luke comes back.” Kylo offered as they hovered by his door.

“ Ok.” She didn’t think that Kylo would want anyone in his room. Kylo moved further in to his room and waited for her to follow.

Rey was surprised at how big the room was, it was as sparse as hers but it was larger. He had a desk which was covered in notes but it was still neat and his in-wall shelf was open still with a few holos on.

“ How did you find today?” Kylo said he had been nervous about teaching Rey anything, he had asked her many months ago in such a different world.

“ It was informative. How was it for you?”

“ It was a nice change actually.”

“I noticed that your scar has completely healed.” She said it had been one of the first things she'd noticed that morning when she'd gotten a better look at his face, she had expected something to still how but his pale skin was smooth and unblemished; except for the scattering of dark beauty marks.

“I almost didn’t get the skin graft but I knew that hearing Hux go on about how you managed to beat me.”

“ Oh. I'm guessing that Hux is a bit of an ass then.”

“Ass is the understatement of the galaxy.” He chuckled. The sound was so strange to Rey but it made her smile too, the sound was deep and rumbling which she found nice.

 

Luke returned just as they finished laughing about Hux. He was quietly pleased that his nephew was bonding with Rey. It would be good for him to have someone to talk to.

 

“I thought we could have lunch together. The mess is empty.” Kylo moved his desk chair closer to the centre of the room. Rey took a plate from Luke’s tray and perched on the deep chair in the corner of the room as Luke took the desk chair and Kylo sat on the edge of the bed. As they ate they talked about a holo that Luke was reading on the battle of Endor, he told them about the differences between the story and what really happened. Kylo could sense Rey's excitement through their bond, it felt different because he could see it, he could see how it lit up her face, how her smile grew wider and when she laughed when Luke would tell something funny.

“ Thank you, Kylo.” Rey said to Kylo as she left. Kylo didn’t say anything he just smiled.

 

 

When Rey got back to her room Finn was waiting.

“ Where were you today. Your things are gone from the training room.” He was leaning against her doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.

“ We moved our training to the hanger.” She said as she pressed her door panel and stepped inside, leaving the door open for Finn.

“ Why?” He asked suspiciously.

“The General has allowed Kylo Ren to show me a few things on how to fight the other Knights of Ren.”

“ WHAT!?” He said loudly, the ex- troopers voice rose several octaves.

“ Before you start shouting let me explain.” She said gently. Finn nodded and flopped down in to her chair. “Last night Snoke forced his way in to my mind and caused me quite a lot of pain in doing so. And because of our bond, Kylo felt it too. Luke and Kylo stayed here for the night to make sure it didn’t happen again because to me it was a physical attack. If the Order attacks I need to be prepared and Kylo wants to help me know how to fight them.”

“ And how do you know he’s not trying to turn you.”

“He promised. He also said that he would let himself be locked up if he even tried.”

“Oh, that's great, the evil mass murderer made a promise. I feel so much better.” He said bitterly.

“I thought of all people you would understand what he's done. You broke your conditioning and left the Order. Kylo's done that too.”

“He's probably just manipulating you. He did that a lot and he was very good at it.”

“He's not! Believe it or not last night I felt all the pain and grief that he's felt over the last decade when our bond was wrenched open by Snoke, the pain that Snoke was making me feel was Kylo's, I felt how he felt when he killed his father, I felt how he felt when he finally realised that he had it all wrong and he was in the wrong place. That's when he decided to leave the First Order and Snoke. I'm not saying that I like him or even completely trust him but I can't just ignore him if he's willing to change and do better then he needs people to help him do so.”

“Well don't expect any help from me.”

“I wasn't, you and everyone else has every right to be angry with him. But I'm giving him this one chance to prove himself.” She said as she pushed the door panel to her bathroom as little too harshly. “Now if you'll excuse me I need to clean up and change, then collapse.” She huffed.

“Fine.” He said quietly before getting up and leaving. Rey sighed heavily, she didn't relish in upsetting her friend, she hoped that once he had the chance to cool down and think about what she'd said he would see her side of things.

 

Once she was washed up and feeling fresher she collapsed on her bed and fell asleep.

 

Kylo spent a whole hour just standing in the cubicle of his shower, thinking over the events of the past day. He'd been found out by Snoke, helped Rey push Snoke from her mind. He had stayed with her. He'd helped her train and he was impressed at how well she fought.

 

He spent the rest of his day going through the First Order chatter that was collected from the night before. Snoke was definitely sending people after him and it wouldn't be too long before they came to D'Qar and attacked everyone just to get to him. He sorted through the more important information and picked out key locations on where to attack, where to pull the resistance back from and made notes on what they could do when the Order attacked the base.

 

When he was done with a long meeting with his mother and the other officers be returned to his room and barely managed to remove his shoes before collapsing in to bed.

 

As he slept he felt his consciousness being pulled to Rey through the bond. Suddenly, black turned to lush green as he was pulled in to her dream. There were trees, he could feel a cool breeze and smell the earth. He found Rey sitting on a mossy log that had fallen over a stream. She didn't notice him as she was throwing pebbles in to the stream with a sullen look on your face.

“It's a shame to be sad in a place like this.” He said as he approached the end of the log.

“Finn's angry with me.” She said as she looked up at him. “I'm sorry, did I....did I bring you here?”

“It's fine.” He smiled, “It's much less depressing than my dreams.” He climbed up onto the log and sat down next to her.

 

His long legs dangled over the edge, that water came half way up his calf whereas it only skimmed Rey's swinging feet.

“Why is Finn angry with you?” He asked after a long while. Rey spent a moment as she kicked the water in to the air.

“He was waiting for me earlier and he questioned me about where I was today. When I told him he got angry, he doesn't like it that we're training together. I explained to him what I felt last night and how I feel about you but I don't think he was listening. I hope he doesn't hate me.” She lamented.

“He can't possibly hate you when he's too focused on hating me. I've done so many more things that are worth him hating me over you.” He said with a reassuring tone.

“Did you ever hate me?” She asked quietly as she got to her feet and paced back and forth between Kylo and the other end of the log.

“No. I don't think I even really hated you when I first found out about you. I resented you, I was envious of how easily you walked in the light, of how easily you found that missing piece of the map and how easily you defeated me. But I don't think I could ever hate you.” He looked up at her with such reverence that Rey felt tears start to sting in her eyes. “What's wrong?”

“I hated you. I should still hate you, you did terrible things but I-I don't hate you. I don't completely like you either.” She admitted as she stopped next to him, she didn't look down at him but up in to the trees where the sun was shining.

“That's fine. I don't expect you or anyone to like me. I don't expect or deserve forgiveness either.” He reached up and touched the tips of his fingers to her, just as he done the night before, Rey looked down and gave him a small smile, she did as she had done to the night before and skimmed her fingers over his shoulder to his hair and back again before sitting back down.

 

They stayed in their shared dream for what felt like hours. They stayed by the stream throwing pebbles that they conjured with the Force. Rey kept her hand close to Kylo's as they sat and talked and threw pebbles. Occasionally when one made the other laugh they would lean closer and bump shoulders with one another as they giggled about the bad joke the other told.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to thank everyone for reading my fic so far, it means a lot to me. 
> 
> Please leave a comment or a kudos I really appreciate it! :)


	6. Sing  for Absolution

Late next morning Poe knocked on Rey's door. Breakfast had been and gone and Luke was asking after her but was summoned to a meeting before he could find her himself. Poe volunteered to go back to her room and check on her. After not getting any answer he opened the door; which never seemed to be locked. He paused and listened in to the dark room when he couldn't hear the sound of the fresher he stepped in and turned on the lights.

“Rey.” He said as the lights came on Rey curled up in to a ball underneath her covers and grumbled.

“This is not the Rey you are looking for.” She groaned sleepily as she poked an arm out from under her covers and flailed it around.

“Oh but I think it is.” He chuckled. He turned to her wall and started pressing open the different compartments containing clothing.

“What time is it?” She asked as she sat up, she then scowled at the back of Poe's head when she saw him rifling through her draws.

“Getting close to midday.”

“Fuck.” She swore as she catapulted out of bed and grabbed the pile of clothes Poe had found for her before dashing into the bathroom.

 _"Why did you let me sleep so late?"_ She said frantically to Kylo through their bond.

 _"I thought you'd be able to wake yourself."_   He said back smugly. 'I've been in an intelligence meeting all morning and so had Luke so we will be training this afternoon.'

“I had an interesting encounter with Kylo Ren last night.” Poe said loudly through the door, it sounded like he'd said it once already, before having to repeat himself.

“What happened?” She said back as she got dressed.

 _"Tell me about the meeting later?"_ She asked quietly to Kylo.

“He was at an intelligence meeting last night and afterwards he approached me and apologised to me for torturing me and everything.”

“What did you say?” She asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

“I told him that I would only accept his apology if he proved that he was really on our side and we'd work on the whole forgiveness thing if he didn't do anything to hurt you or tempt you to the dark side.”

“Have you spoken to Finn?” She asked as she opened the door and then continued to brush her hair.

“Yes, I saw him after I saw Ren. He was not best pleased that Ren had talked to me either, but he did perk up when I told him that Ren had offered up a sparring match for Finn and me.”

“Why?”

“I dunno. Perhaps he thinks that letting us beat the shit out of him might make us feel better.” He smiled. Rey rolled her eyes as she passed him.

“Finn isn't too angry with me is he?”

“No, of course not. Especially not after I explained to him that by training with Ren you do just spend your day kicking the shit out of him too.”

“That's not what I'm doing. He's showing me how to fight his own people.”

“I know that. Finn's just in a strange place, I think he just needs to be angry at Ren for now. We can't all be like you and push away our anger with a thought.” He said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and headed to the mess.

“You probably could too if you tried. It's not just a Force users trick.” She ate her breakfast quickly and then went to Kylo's room alone as Poe had to prepare his X-Wing for a mission that due to start the next day.

 

Rey reached out with the Force to make sure Kylo was in his room before knocking. Kylo opened the door, grabbed Rey's hand to pull her inside and closed the door before she had a chance to blink.

“Hello to you too.”

“I'm a little busy, but feel free to sit and wait for Luke. We'll be going over to the hanger soon anyway.” He waved her in to the room as he went back to the chair at his desk.

“Are you too busy to talk while you work?” She asked as she made herself comfortable in the armchair.

“I guess not. I'm just organising everything after this morning's meeting.” Rey sat quietly for a few minutes as she simply watched him work. He had several piles of stacked holos on his desk. He sorted them in to reports that were already dealt with, noteworthy and pointless.

“What was so important that you needed to go to two intelligence meetings?” She asked.

“I found the location of a First Order base that is gathering troops and weaponry, the chatter suggests that they plan on attacking here.”

“How soon?” She asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

“I'm not sure. There's barely enough for a whole squadron yet. I think they are scraping the bottom of the barrel since the vast majority of troops went up in flames.”

“Poe told me something interesting earlier.” She said smiling.

“Uh-huh, what did he say?” He asked without looking up from the holo he was typing in.

“He told me that you apologised to him.” Kylo turned his head then to see Rey smiling him. For a moment, he was taken aback by her bright smile and the proud look in her hazel eyes.

“I figured it would be the right thing to do. I should try and make an outward effort to be a better person if I am going to live here in the Resistance and if I want people to trust me and not think that I'm a First Order spy.”

“That's great.”

“I haven't spoken to the General privately yet but I get the feeling she doesn't want to speak to me and Luke doesn't seem to want to hear anything from me and he's being too nice about everything.”

“Maybe they want to see you do some good. Apologies don't always fix things.” As she said that she felt a wave of regret from Kylo. For a fraction of a moment she wondered why he felt guilty, then she realised that he hadn't said anything to her in the way of an apology in the weeks he'd been there. “Kylo-.” She began to say.

“No please, I need to say this.” He pleaded as he turned around to face her fully. “I've done so many terrible things. I've tortured people, I've invaded their minds, I abandoned my family for a monster.” He paused to run a shaky hand through his hair. “I murdered my own father on top of countless others.” He groaned as tears threatened to fall. “I'm sorry for doing such abominable things to you Rey.” He couldn't help it as he let go of a wave of grief and self-hatred that it hit Rey like a physical blow; making her flinch.

 

Kylo didn't notice as Rey stood up and stepped close enough to him that she could reach out and skim her fingers lightly over his broad shoulders in comforting patterns.

“Thank you Kylo.” She said. Kylo looked up at her then before leaning his head against her forearm and letting out a shaky sob.

“I don't deserve your kindness.”

“I promise not to be kind to you while we're sparring. I'll make doubly sure to be calm and indifferent with a slight tinge of condescension.” She joked, hoping to rid him of his dark thoughts and feelings. She felt him chuckle against her arm and quietly laughed too.

“Did you find out if Finn was really angry with you?”

“No, he's not. Are you really willing to let Poe and Finn fight you in order to try and make up for things?”

“I asked what I could do to make them feel better.”

“You do realise that you're going to get the whole base wanting to beat the living daylights out of you?”

“Then let them.” He grumbled.

“Don't be so grim and fatalistic. They'll probably like it more if you provide good intelligence and prove to everyone that you're on our side now, or at least not working for the First Order anymore.” Kylo didn't say anything, instead, he just opened up his connection with Rey and let her soothe him.

'You're going to get through this Kylo.'

 

Rey broke the moment they were having and took a step back as she felt Luke approach. Seconds later Luke knocked on the door before letting himself in.

“Is everything well?” He asked, looking between the pair.

“We were just talking.” Rey replied.

“I was just apologising to Rey actually.” Kylo admitted as he stood.

“Good.” Luke smiled. “Shall we continue training?”

 

They went through the same routine as they had done the day before. Meditate for an hour, go through forms, then Kylo showed Rey how to fight against a style that F'Tero Ren and some of his other Knights had developed where they used acrobatics and speed over strength and brute force.

 

Rey quickly found that to get past Kylo's flurry of limbs by knocking him off balance with the Force before kicking his long legs out from under him. Kylo hit the ground with a soft 'oof'. Rey felt jubilant as she moved out of Kylo's reach. She had floored him earlier but hadn't moved quickly enough, giving Kylo the chance to grab her foot and pull her down too.

 

When they stopped for a break Rey offered to go fetch them a late lunch. As she left Luke suggested to Kylo that they work on breaking the bond between Snoke and Kylo. They had discussed it earlier that morning before they were called in to the intelligence meeting. Luke told Kylo that if he broke the bond with Snoke he would be safer from his influences. Kylo was a little shocked when his uncle then also suggested that he strengthen the bond with Rey.

 

On her way back to the hanger Rey was stopped by two members of the security team, they approached her and blocked her path. She had seen them around the base before, they were responsible for keeping the General's private sector of the base where Kylo and Luke were also housed, safe.

 

The taller of the two was a spindly man called Anatole Enkis, he was a very serious man with sharp features, any time that he had been around Rey he had leered at her. The second man, Petim Grezel was equal in height to her and youthful, he was a keen new recruit that followed Anatole around like a lost Fwit.

“Is there something that I can help you with?” She asked them. Anatole circled around her, stopping behind her and standing entirely too close for Rey's comfort.

“And where are you off to?” He said quietly, Rey tried not to cringe when she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck.

“I'm going back to my training.” She said sternly. “Petim please move.” She asked.

“No Petim, stay right there. We need to have a little chat and if you try any of your Jedi tricks I'll shoot you.” He said lowly as he pressed his blaster in to the small of her back. Petim took the tray from her hands and set it down by a door before they walked her from the building and towards the edge of the base.

 

Rey stayed silent as they walked through a quiet section of the base and out to the forest.

 _"Kylo I need help."_ She said calmly as she could. Anatole stopped them at a small lake that was only a short walk from the base but still secluded. She did wonder to herself about how quickly she could knock Anatole out, or how fast she could even react before he took it as a wrong move and shot her. Her chances of succeeding without getting shot were slim to none as Anatole was marking up anything other than walking calmly in front of him without saying a word would have been a wrong move in his mind.

“What did you want to talk about?” She asked Anatole.

“I lied.” He sneered. Rey saw what was about to happen and sent out another, more desperate plea for help before Anatole's blaster hit her in the back of the skull, knocking her unconscious.

 

In the hanger Kylo was jolted from his concentration when she felt Rey in the back of his mind, asking for help.

 _"Kylo I need help."_ He'd heard, she sounded calm but there was an edge of nervousness behind it.

“I think Rey's in trouble.” He said as he shot to his feet. Luke swiftly followed him from the hanger. As they made their way from the tarmac they were approached by a worried looking Poe.

“Poe, have you seen Rey?” Kylo asked.

“Yeah. Two of the guards from your mother's private sector took her towards the south side of the base. I don't think they saw me but I saw them, they had a blaster pointed at her.”

“How long ago did they take her?” Luke asked.

“Couple of minutes ago. They couldn't have gotten far, not unless they had a speeder bike or something out in the woods.”

“She's still close.” Suddenly he felt as if Rey was clutching at his wrist as he heard his name called again in a more desperate tone.

 _"KYLO"_ The ex-knight of Ren suddenly felt a sharp pain before their bond went silent. Luke and Poe both saw the panic and fear cross over Kylo's features. All three men ran towards the south side of the base and in to the forest.

 

Kylo focused on where he'd last felt Rey's force signature and ran towards it. His long legs carried him across the tarmac and in to the forest quickly.

 

When he arrived at the shore of the small lake there was no one there. He looked at his feet and saw a set of tracks in the mud. There were three pairs of boot marks, one person in the centre with two either side.

 

Close to the shore, there was a large divot in the thick mud, it looked like someone had fallen, he then followed the drag marks, flanked by two pairs of footprints to the lake.

 

\------

[Fwit](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Fwit)

 


	7. Hysteria

Kylo stared out at the lake for what felt like a galactic age for him as he tried to calm his mind and focus on Rey's Force signature. He could almost feel Snoke at the back of his mind laughing at him for being so worried. He vaguely noticed Luke and Poe running up behind him.

“Where is she?” Poe asked.

“She's, I think they knocked her out and dragged her in to the lake.” He said slowly.

“Concentrate on her Force signature and pull her from the water.” Luke said calmly, he could see that his nephew was struggling with the fear inside of him, “Poe follow these tracks but keep your distance if you find them. I will go to Leia and alert her of the situation.” Poe went off after the muddy tracks and Kylo merely nodded as he concentrated, he could feel her underneath the water like a beacon.

“ _You're too weak Kylo.”_ Snoke sneered in his head. Kylo growled lowly to himself and shut down his mind to remained focused on Rey.

 

He pulled her from the water and set her down gently on the grass. He apologised to her mentally before giving her mouth to mouth. He only had to do it a couple of times before she coughed up a lung full of water and began drawing in breaths.

“Kylo.” She choked.

“Don't speak. We need to get you to the medical bay.” He scooped her in to his arms in the same manner as he had carried her on Takodana.

“ _Thank you.”_ Rey said through their bond. Kylo could feel the fear and embarrassment coming off her waves. They were silent all the way back to the base, Kylo kept their bond open as he tried to soothe her. He was met at the medbay by his very worried looking mother and his uncle. Kylo just brushed past them and placed Rey down on the examination table before stepping back and letting the nurse take over. As the nurse and medical droid began their work Rey slipped back in to a more peaceful unconsciousness.

“What happened?” His mother asked. On their way to the medbay Rey had opened up her side of their bond and shown Kylo what had happened, her thoughts were a little foggy but he got the idea.

“Two of your guards threatened her with blasters. They then took her off base and threw her unconscious body in to the lake.” He explained without taking his eyes of off Rey.

“Why would they do such a thing?” The General asked.

“From what Rey told me, they think she's a traitor for associating herself with me. They knew that they wouldn't get close enough to hurt me so they went after her.”

“They will be properly dealt with after Poe and the recovery team find them. They cannot get very far.” His mother reassured. “When Rey wakes and is feeling well again I will have her moved my private apartments to keep her safe until we've had a full security sweep and make sure nothing like this happens again.”

 

The trio stood in the small room and waited for news on Poe and the others and finding the two missing guards. The only sound in the room was the steady beep of the machine monitoring Rey's heart. The medical droid was busy fixing the wound on the back of Rey's skull.

 

It didn't take long for Rey to wake up. As she opened her eyes she could feel a dull ache at the back of her skull and her lungs burned. As she became more aware she could feel Kylo, Luke and Leia's concern for her. She slowly sat up on her elbows and looked around the room, she saw Leia standing by the door looking anxious and also relieved that she was awake. Luke was sat by her bed and looked deep in thought, he didn't even notice her sitting up. Kylo was stood in the corner looking sullen as he watched her, as she woke and sat up he visibly perked up before looking immediately guilty.

“General.” Rey's throat felt a little gravely as she tried to speak. General Organa turned her attention from the door to Rey.

“Rey dear, how do you feel?” She asked softly as she poured Rey a glass of water and passed it to her.

“A little sore and very much embarrassed.” She said blushing.

“There's nothing to be embarrassed about Rey. Your safety was threatened, it's natural to not want to act and provoke the worst outcome. All that matters now is that you are safe.” Luke reassured.

“I know I just wish that I could have done more.” She said quietly.

“ _More would have gotten you killed.”_ Kylo said suddenly through their bond.

“You will move in to the spare room in my private apartment until we've made sure there is no longer a threat to anyone.”

“Thank you, General. Is it alright if I change out of these clothes.” She asked. Her clothes were soaking wet and so cold.

“Oh yes! Of course. There should be a change of clothes in the cupboard. Come on boys let the lady change.” Leia said as she ushered her son and brother from the room.

 

Rey took her heart rate monitor from her finger and slid from the bed. In the small cupboard on the wall was a pair of loose white trousers and a white long sleeved tunic. Rey stripped off all of her clothes and threw them in to the laundry chute. It felt odd being in clothes without her underwear underneath but it was warmer and more comfortable than her sodden clothes. She pulled her hair from its buns to let it dry loose.

 

When she poked her head out of the door she saw Luke and Kylo quietly talking and Leia was busy talking to Poe. When Poe noticed her he flashed her a smile before returning to his conversation.

“Thank you Poe. Have Anatole and Petim brought to a holding cell. I'll deal with them personally.”

“Yes Ma'am.” He nodded before returning back down the hall.

 

General Organa's apartment wasn't as big as Rey envisioned. There was a living area and kitchen that was twice the size of Rey's room. Off to the sides were three doors, she assumed they led to bedrooms or an office.

“Your room is just through there.” The General said as she pointed to a lone door on the far side of the room.

“Thank you.” She smiled.

“Now, rest while I deal with Anatole and Petim. Luke and Kylo will stay with you. I'm sure Poe and Finn will be along too once they're done for the day.” She said before leaving to deal with the guards.

 

Rey scoured the shelves of holobooks. Luke and Kylo settled on the large semi-circular sofa and began discussing Kylo breaking his bond with Snoke further.

“Aren't there risks in breaking a Force bond, especially one that's been established for so many years.” Rey asked as she read through the description of one of the few fiction books Leia had.

“There are, but I believe I have a solution.” Luke said as he looked between Rey and Kylo. “I believe that if we strengthen the bond between yourself and Rey then it will lessen the negative effects of the severance with Snoke.”

“What happens to me if I or if Rey doesn't want to.” Kylo asked.

“Then you will most likely suffer greatly. You and Rey already share a sturdy connection, it could be beneficial to you both.”

“How?” Rey asked curiously.

“Take today for instance. Kylo was able to find you and you were able to communicate with him and warn him. If your bond is stronger then you'd be more in tune with each other. Which will become important as you progress with your training and in the eventuality of an attack, you will be more in sync when you fight together.”

“Rey, what do you want to do?” Kylo asked as he looked up at her from his position on the sofa.

“Luke is right, if we didn't share a bond I'd still be in the lake.”

“If you're sure then we'll do it. Do you want to continue Luke?” He asked, he glanced back at Rey to see her smiling faintly.

“Of course. Rey, you don't need to do anything until we've broken the bond between Kylo and Snoke. For now, you can relax and read for a while.”

“Do you want to eat lunch first? I'm famished.”

“I'll give you a hand.” Kylo offered.

 

Rey and Kylo heated up enough Bantha stew for the three of them. Kylo had teased her about not knowing how to cook as she had only ever know ration portions. She knew from the wide smile on his face that he was only joking with her, so she just stuck her tongue out at him as he turned away from her to rifle through another cupboard. He found a box of Forest Honey cakes, he wondered if Rey had ever had real honey before as he put three on a plate.

 

Rey sat down close to Kylo as they shared a flat bread hat Rey had found in the back of another cupboard. They both sat cross-legged, as their knees were touching it made of a good place to balance the bread as they tore off strips and dipped it in their stew.

 

Forest Honey cakes were golden squares of sponge the size of Kylo's palm and were sticky and dripping with rich golden honey. Rey moaned as she bit in to the soft sponge, it was like nothing she'd ever tasted before. When she was finished she licked the honey from her fingers.

“You've got some on your chin.” Kylo said. He was a little caught up in watching Rey suck the last of the honey from her thumb, he hadn't heard what his uncle had said. Luke cleared his throat to get both of their attentions.

“We should get started, it will take time to fully sever the connection.” Rey took the bowls and plates away and put them in the recycling chute before returning to her spot next to Kylo with the holo she wanted to read.

“When the bond breaks there will be pain. When it happens I want you to open your bond and I will set about strengthening your bond.”

 

It was early evening when Finn and Poe knocked on the door. Rey took them in to the kitchen area and quietly told them what was happening. They were a little apprehensive about everything but they couldn't be too angry with Kylo at the moment as he had saved Rey. She took them in to her room so they could talk without disturbing Kylo and Luke.

 

Finn and Poe stayed for an hour and left when the General returned. The two men hugged her and said their goodbyes.

 

“Anatole and Petim have been given a prison sentence and they will be detained here while they await a formal trail. I'm sure you would understand that I do not want them in the hands of the First Order or anyone else for that matter.” The General said as she brewed herself some tea.

“When will the trial be.”

“In a few days.” She said as she poured her tea. “I have a lot of work to get through, have a good evening Rey.”

“Thank you, General. You too.” She said smiling.

 

She returned to her seat with her holo, everything felt peaceful around her as she sat in silence.

 

It was the middle of the night when a sleepy Rey felt a sudden jab of pain through her bond. She jolted herself back upright after she slumped over in her seat to lean against Kylo's arm as she read. As she sat up straighter she opened her side of the bond and winced from the pain that Kylo was feeling. She then felt Luke's soothing presence as he set to work on forging a stronger bond between Rey and Kylo. As she felt everything grow stronger she became more aware of Kylo's presence, even though his hands were clenched around his knees she could feel one of his hands holding hers. She didn't know if it was an attempt to soothe her or a way of Kylo finding comfort himself.

 

When they were finally finished it was close to dawn. Luke was beyond exhausted and got up slowly and left to sleep in his room, leaving Rey with the job pulling Kylo's heavy and tired weight up off the sofa and towards the room that had been given to her. When he protested about taking her bed she told him that he was too tall to lie comfortably on the curved sofa. She had to hide a giggle as he struggled and failed to remove his boots as he sat on the edge of the bed. Rey then knelt and made quick work of them. As she did that Kylo pulled his shirt up and over his head before throwing it at the ground. Kylo flopped back in to the bed and pulled the covers over himself.

 

As Rey stood up she was stopped by Kylo's strong hand.

“ _Stay. Please.”_ Kylo asked sleepily. Rey looked down at the bed feeling confused, she could see that there was enough room on the bed for her to lie on but she didn't know what it meant for her to actually share it with Kylo. She had grown closer to Kylo in a way, even without the bond between them. As if he already knew her decision, Kylo let go of her wrist and shuffled back up against the wall, giving her the majority of the bed space. Shedding the thin canvas shoes she'd found with her medbay clothes, Rey climbed in to the bed with Kylo. She lay on her back in the middle of her pillow as Kylo shifted onto his side to face her. He made no move to touch her or talk to her in any way, he just let gratitude flow through their bond.

 

As they dreamt Kylo took Rey back to the lake and showed her how beautiful it could be to help her forget what happened. He taught her how to skip stones across the lake's glassy surface. He enjoyed watching her smile and laugh whenever she would successfully skip stones or very occasionally skip them further than him. Rey surprised him by wrapping her arms around his waist and thanked him from pulling her from the water. Kylo couldn't say anything that felt sufficient so he returned the embrace by folding his arms around her.

 

They stood like that for a long while as the sun set in their dream. They could feel the warmth of the sun's rays on their faces as it set over the lake and D'Qar's lush green hills.

 

For the first time in a long time, Kylo felt peaceful.

 

For the first time in a long time, Kylo felt the gentle pull of the Light and it didn't scare him.

 

He was no longer being torn apart. He knew which way to go now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I have a real job and it leaves me too tired to concentrate on writing. 
> 
> Thank you for reading :)


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